50 Shades of Grey vlog!

It's been a long time since I've posted anything, but here's something new and awesome that I hope you'll enjoy...

Okay, so you've probably heard of the 50 Shades of Grey books. It's a phenomenon, it's got people talking, it's the new Twilight, it's full of dirty stuff. Well, I decided to give this book a try, but I'm not going to read it in the normal fashion. That would be too boring.

I decided to join forces with my twin sister, Annette, and switch off reading pages together out loud, so we could laugh and enjoy the story together. But not only that. We also decided that we would FILM ourselves reading, with our honest-to-god reactions.

With some heavy editing, here is the result of our first night reading 50 Shades of Grey.

As you will no doubt notice, our younger brother, Adam, joined us in the middle of our reading unexpectedly. Since it's only the first chapter (nothing terribly erotic just yet), we welcomed him to read a few pages, and he decided, on his own, that he'd stick around and join in the fun. He is a fantastic reader. Not to mention being the most hilarious kid I know! (Can you believe how tall he is now? Taller than his older sisters? I can't. >_<)

Well, I hope you enjoy this. Please let me know if you'd like to hear us read Chapter 2!

Bettina out!

Expectations vs. Reality

In roughly another 18 hours from now, I will be driving to the airport to pick up my best friend, whom I haven't seen in, oh... NEVER! Words can't even describe how excited I am for him to come! And be here! With me! For the very first time!!!I have fantasized about this for so long, how awesome and magical it would be... or rather, will be... when the two of us meet, face to face. Nothing will be seperating us. Not distance, not time, not a computer screen. Hopefully it won't turn out to be awkward or anything! I don't want to wind up crying happy tears and bowling into him, like this girl:
I just want to give my dear friend a big, warm, loving hug, to show him that I'm real, and to show myself that he's real. We've wanted to hug each other for the last 3+ years... I can't believe we're finally going to get that chance!Past that, I pretty much have little to no idea how things will go from there. He'll be my and my family's guest for a while, so I'm going to make him feel as welcome as humanly possible. I want the weather to cooperate and show him Florida's shiniest sun. I want to introduce him to my family and friends and hope everyone gets along. I want everything to go perfectly... But I know from experience that life doesn't always live up to your expectations. Still, I know inside that no matter what happens this week, we will always be best friends. We have so much history between us... and we're going to make even more history tomorrow.

I miss you Jacoby... But not for long. ^_~

Stop Joseph Kony 2012

Not sure how many people still read this blog, but I'm posting it here anyway.

This 30 min video could change the way you think about the world, and its most wanted war criminal, KONY. If you don't know his name, I guarantee you will in the coming days and weeks. It's being linked and shared everywhere on Facebook. I actually first found out about it from Doug Walker, who is famous for being the Nostalgia Critic.

Please take a half hour to watch this video. It's about stopping a man, a monster, a villain named Joseph Kony. The more people that know about him, the better the chances are of his capture. Get into the know and make him famous. Share with your parents, friends & EVERYONE!

It's official!!!

Next week, on March 14th, I'm going to play host to the best friend I have never met, Jacoby Nielsen!!! I kid you not! He is seriously flying all the way from Utah down to Florida, he's going to hang out with me and my family for about a week, and we are actually going to meet face to face, for the first time EVER!

Words can barely describe how excited I am... I've been waiting and waiting for this to happen. We both have, really. And now that day is finally approaching. The day when we will see each other as real flesh-and-blood people that we can reach out and touch. The day when we can give each other a hug, like real friends do. !_!

I can't believe that over 3 years have passed since I met this guy, who has been a true friend to me ever since I started this blog. I remember it like it was yesterday...
I absolutely can't wait to meet him!!! ^_^ We'll take walks, watch movies together, make and eat pizza, sing songs, write stuff at writer's group, play games... I'll even take him to see the beach! It'll be so awesome!

I promise, Jacoby, no matter what we do, you and I are going to have a blast a week from now! No questions asked. The countdown has begun!

Together at last... I can just picture it now...

Smile smile smile!

Okay, I may be a big girl at 20 years old, but I am not ashamed to say that I just love the show My Little Pony, Friendship is Magic. There are dozens of reasons to love it, from the many wonderful characters, to the high-quality animation, to the delightful songs, to the brilliant and very valid morals at the end of each episode. Funny, cutesy, zany, epic, and awesome! Maybe it's targeted towards children, but it doesn't talk down to anyone and is perfectly entertaining for anyone who is young at heart.

Anyway, I just saw the latest episode of MLP, A Friend in Deed (link to the entire episode here) and heard... this! I DARE you not to crack a smile for 3 minutes! You will find it impossible! ^_^

Even if you've never seen, and/or never plan to see My Little Pony, I promise that this song WILL make your day. It sure made mine.

LYRICS:
My name is Pinkie Pie (Hello!)
and I am here to say (How ya doin'?)
I'm gonna make you smile
and I will brighten up your day

It doesn't matter now (What's up?)
if you are sad or blue (Howdy!)
'cause cheering up my friends is just
what Pinkie's here to do

'Cause I love to make you smile, smile, smile (Yes I do)
it fills my heart with sunshine all the while (Yes it does)
'cause all I really need's a smile, smile, smile
from these happy friends of mine

I like to see you grin (Awesome!)
I love to see you beam (Rock on!)
the corners of your mouth turned up
is always Pinkie's dream (Hoof-Bump!)

But if you're kind of worried
and your face has made a frown
I'll work real hard and do my best
to turn that sad frown upside down

'Cause I love to make you grin, grin, grin (Yes I do)
busted out from ear to ear, let it begin
just give me a joyful grin, grin, grin
and you fill me with good cheer

It's true, some days are dark and lonely
and maybe you feel sad
but Pinkie will be there to show you that it isn't that bad

There's one thing that makes me happy
and makes my whole life worthwhile
and that's when I talk to my friends and get them to smile

I really am so happy
your smile fills me with glee
I give a smile, I get a smile
and that's so special to me

'Cause I love to see you beam, beam, beam (Yes I do)
tell me, what more can I say to make you see that I do?
it makes me happy when you beam, beam, beam
yes, it always makes my day

Come on everypony smile, smile, smile!
fill my heart up with sunshine, sunshine
all I really need's a smile, smile, smile
from these happy friends of mine!

Come on everypony smile, smile, smile!
fill my heart up with sunshine, sunshine
all I really need's a smile, smile, smile
from these happy friends of mine!

Yes a perfect gift for me
is a smile as wide as a mile
to make me happy as can be
smile, smile, smile, smile, smile!

Come on and smile!
come on and smile!

The Little Prince tames the fox

I've been wanting to post one this for a while, and now I finally got around to it! I gave a speech at Toastmasters on the 6th (yeah, I'm back in the Toastmasters game) and I really wanted you guys to see this! Even though it's supposed to be from an advanced manual, this speech was quite easy for me, because I'm doing Interpretive Reading, so all I had to do was read from a book, and I love to read out loud. So here you go!

Little Numbers

I came across this fan fiction early this morning and couldn’t stop reading it until I got to the end!

For those who know me well, you are well aware that, Glee is my favorite tv show ever, and my favorite characters in it are Kurt and Blaine. I absolutely love reading fanfics about them, because they are the sweetest teenage gay couple in the world!

Anyway, this story is, in my opinion, simply incredible! It’s written almost completely in text messages, sometimes in phone conversations. It’s so creative, and really makes it fun for the reader! I love it all the more because it reminds me of someone with whom I share a similar friendship… that's lasted for more than 3 years...

Check it out! There’s 14 parts to it so far, but it’s still ongoing. You don’t have to read it all, of course, but here’s a link to the first chapter.

Scrabble Story

Annette and I played a game of Scrabble together last night (which, incidentally, I won. Lol), and when we were done I was hit by a great idea: make up a story out of all the words we played on the Scrabble board! So that's what I did. Even if this is really short and random, it was such a fun little exercise that I recommend you try if you want to get creative juices flowing.

Tell me what you think of this. Or better, try it for yourself! ^_~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~WORDLIST (alphabetically): Ax, Barrel, Blip, Buy, Can, Chomp, Cop, Dove, Drain, Drained, Ease, Entire, Fair, Fate, Gasp, Got, Ha, Is, Jaw, Jeer, La, Legit, Lousy, Oh, Ox, Quilt, Smock, Sooner, Suited, Uno, Voltage, Wide, Wine

The ENTIRE BARREL of WINE was DRAINED within minutes. Big Jim let out a GASP, his belly WIDE as a pumpkin, his eyes slightly unfocused. He gave a LOUSY grin to the SUITED stranger standing over him. "HA, I told you I could DRAIN the entire barrel, didn't I?"
"OH yes, you certainly did," said the man. "Your claim was LEGIT, you won FAIR and square." He tossed a bag of coins on top of the overturned barrel.
"Haha, IS he a COP or something?" asked Jim with a JEER to the barman, who said nothing, but wiped a hand on his SMOCK.
In his head, the man thought, "I'd have been out of here much SOONER if I hadn't run into you, you thick OX. But I suppose FATE has GOT other plans for me." His JAW was set, like a horse would CHOMP at his bit. The man stepped around Big Jim with EASE and walked towards the door.
"Gary, CAN you remind me never to BUY another drink again?" said Big Jim in a drunken slur. With that, the fat slob fell instantly asleep, and the barman laid a QUILT over him to make Jim more comfy.
~~~~~Outside the bar, the mysterious stranger made sure no one was looking before pulling out his dimension-splitting AX. He swiped the gadget through the air, tearing a hole through the fabric of reality and causing sparks of VOLTAGE to fly. On the other side of the newly created portal, buildings crumbled and alien-ships shot down high intensity laser beams in all directions.
"Ooh LA la," said the man to himself. "Looks like I'll have to watch out for número UNO in this dimension."
Despite the obvious danger that lay ahead, the man DOVE through the portal with a laugh, and the tear closed behind him with a BLIP.

For Star Wars fans

Hey, sorry I haven't been posting much recently. This year has sure been keeping me busy...
But in the meantime, here's something to distract you from that fact. An entirely fan-made version of the original Star Wars movie! If you like Star Wars and have the patience for this largely amatuerish but very brave and well done video, I think you will really appreciate it.

Tintin!

Last night my family and I went to the theater, and we saw one of the most incredible films ever: The Adventures of Tintin.You remember Tintin, right? He was the titular comic book character in a series illustrated by Hergé. Tintin is a young reporter who goes on many wild adventures, solving great mysteries with the help of his dog Snowy, his friend Captain Haddock, and many other colorful characters. Hergé’s books got adapted into a short cartoon tv show in the 90′s, which from the opening theme alone seemed pretty epic.Anyway, Tintin hit the big screen just last month, directed and produced by Steven Spielberg, and with music by John Williams. My brother, sister and I are big fans of Tintin and were concerned whether this new adaptation would do justice to the source material, especially since it was animated using motion-capture technology. Well, let’s just say this movie more than exceeded my expectations! ^_^
Honestly, it was like Indiana Jones and The Pirates of the Caribbean combined! Full of suspense, slapstick, and wonderful plot twists, Tintin was just an incredible experience. I was awestruck and kept on the edge of my seat for the entire movie!

The animation was beautiful, capturing Hergé’s original art style perfectly while at the same time immersing the viewer in a world that looked so real you could almost touch it. The people were brought to amazing life, the animals were done particularly well, and every scene was shot using great angles that made this film a masterpiece.

I would say it’s a great, fun-filled adventure film to see with the family, even if you aren’t that familiar with Tintin. It’s got something for everyone. Epic moments, laugh out loud moments, and even some heartwarming moments. It stands very well on its own, and the fact that it’s so amazingly true to the books and cartoon show is an enormous plus!

Still not convinced? Just check out this preview:
As Captain Haddock would say… Blue blistering barnacles! You’ve GOT to see this movie!